Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling water direct injection type fuel cell in which cooling water is directly injected to a cathode to efficiently cool the cathode during a power generation operation of the fuel cell, and more particularly, to a cooling water direct injection type fuel cell which reliably secures the coupling force between an existing separator and a reaction part, despite employing the direction injection structure.
Description of the Related Art
A fuel cell is a system which combines oxygen of air and hydrogen and generates electric energy and water. In a generation mode of the fuel cell, a substantial amount of heat is generated from a cathode by exothermic reaction thus reducing the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell and reducing the relative humidity, resulting in performance degradation and deterioration.
Accordingly, the fuel cell generally includes a separate cooling water line for cooling, as well as including air and hydrogen lines. However, to form the cooling water line, a complex structure is required, thus increasing the production cost. Furthermore, the cooling efficiency is relatively low, and the cooling and the humidification are embodied by separate systems, and thus, there is duplication of the systems. Therefore, recently, a technique is being developed of directly injecting cooling water to embody the humidification and cooling at the same time.
In an example of a conventional art, a technique has been proposed of forming a cooling water passage by folding an end of a cathode-side separator. However, in this case, the folded end of the separator causes a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) functioning as a reaction part, a gas diffusion layer (GDL), or a porous body to be spaced apart from the end of the separator. Accordingly, the coupling force between the reaction part and the separator is reduced thus causing deformation of the separator. Further, deformation of the cooling line may also occur and the surface pressure applied to the reaction part may be uneven. Therefore, a cooling structure capable of directly injecting cooling water to the cathode separator while maintaining a stable structure is required to enhance the durability of the separator, and applying surface pressure to the reaction part more evenly.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.